The winners of Victoria’s TAC Top Tourism Town Awards have been revealed, with Bendigo, Daylesford, and Timboon taking the top honours for 2024.
Bendigo was named this year’s TAC Victorian Top Tourism Town (population over 5,000), while Daylesford took the win for the Top Small Tourism Town Award (population between 1,500 and 5,000) and Timboon won Gold for the Top Tiny Tourism Town Award (population under 1,500).
Silver was awarded to Warrnambool for Top Tourism Town, Sorrento for Small Tourism Town and Arthurs Seat for Tiny Tourism Town. Bronze commendations were awarded to Ballarat, Heathcote and Koondrook.
The awards, hosted by the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC), recognise and celebrate towns that provide an outstanding visitor experience, with 17 finalists vying for the awards this year. The awards ceremony took place at Cleveland Estate in Lancefield where the winners were announced to key figures from the industry.
VTIC Chief Executive Felicia Mariani said the awards showcased the diverse range of regional destinations in Victoria and the economic impact tourism brings to these towns.
“As Victorians’ passion for travelling in their own back yard only increases in popularity, it’s wonderful to see these amazing towns and regional centers across our state being recognised as places to get on to the must-visit list,” she said.
This year’s Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards were delivered with the support of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) as the naming rights partner.
TAC Head of Community Jacqui Sampson said the TAC was proud to continue its support of the Victorian Top Tourism Awards, and deeply valued the industry’s ongoing promotion of road safety across Victoria.
“Regional Victorian towns are not only fundamental to Victoria’s prosperous tourism sector, they have long been a great advocate of our cause to keep everyone safe on our roads. Congratulations to all of the award finalists and winners, and thank you for your ongoing support of road safety,” Ms Sampson said.
The TAC Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards are also supported by the Department of Transport and Planning, Gawk Outdoor, Storytowns, Time Out Melbourne, Tourism Australia and Victoria University.
The three Victorian gold winners will now go on to compete for the coveted title of Australia’s Top Tourism Town in their respective categories. This will be announced on the 10th of September at Parliament House, Canberra.
“The commitment of destinations across Victoria to creating magical experiences for our visitors is just wonderful to see and we’re so proud to be taking our Gold winners forward to the national stage as they vie for the title of “Australia’s Top Tourism Town” in their respective category,” Ms Mariani concluded.
The full list of winners and finalists is available here: www.vtic.com.au/toptourismtown
